


Challenging Prejudice

by everlovingdeer



Series: Harry Potter Short Stories [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Break Up, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 10:16:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20329498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlovingdeer/pseuds/everlovingdeer
Summary: "It's alright Draco," I said softly, pushing his hand away from my wrist. "I'll just make sure that you don't need to concern yourself with this mudblood anymore."I walked away from him, wanting more than anything for him to call out my name, to say something, anything. I wanted him to stop me. But he didn't.After all, he was a Malfoy.





	1. Challenging Prejudice

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided to actually post my Harry Potter one shots/short stories to ao3 like I've been talking about for months. This was originally posted on ff.net and wattpad 18/11/2013 so ... a long time ago. There's been very little edited since then but I will eventually get round to editing them all. 
> 
> (And there's a lot of them)

Hogwarts was always busy, the corridors were always bustling with people shoving one another, playfully or maliciously. But there were three exceptions to that. 

The first was when there was a quidditch game. If there was a quidditch game, almost the entire school was at the pitch eagerly watching two houses pit themselves against one another in one of the few ways that they were allowed to. 

The second was the moment after curfew when everyone was supposed to be in their common rooms. Of course, not everyone _did_ go to their common rooms. There was always a few people that would try to stick around after curfew and would subsequently be caught by the prefects. But really it was easier for prefects like me, and for the people sneaking around in general, if they were actually good at not getting caught. A prime example being the Weasley twins who were known to sneak around each night but had only been caught twice.

The third exception, the one that I hated the most, was when there was a fight. A fight that for some reason the school seemed to believe they needed to witness and a prefect would then have to wade through the group of people in order to split up the fight. 

That was why right now, I was filled with a sense of dread; the corridors were empty but there was no quidditch match on and it was the middle of the afternoon – curfew was another six hours away. But, I reasoned, I couldn’t split up a fight that I didn’t know was occurring.

Continuing with my walk down the corridor I stopped when I heard someone call my name. Looking over my shoulder at the sound I watched Luna as she ran towards me. Turning around fully I stopped in my step and waited for her to catch up to me. 

“Hey,” I said smiling at the blonde witch who bounced in a slightly agitated manner on her heels. “Luna, what’s the matter?”

“There’s a fight going on.” I closed my eyes momentarily, cursing on the inside. Merlin’s beard, why was I always right whenever it came to predicting if there was a fight or not? Really, in circumstances like this, I would rather be wrong.

“Why?”

“One of the first years is stuck in a tree.”

“And that caused a fight?” I asked sceptically.

But Luna nodded her head, “It’s because he was levitated into the tree by someone.”

Sighing internally, I asked, although there really was no need to. “It was Malfoy wasn’t it?” Luna nodded, “So that means wonder boy Potter is the one that Malfoy’s in a fight with?” She nodded again. “Where are all the other prefects?”

“They’re trying to get everyone to leave but no one seems to remember that there is a first-year stuck hanging from a branch on the tree.”

“_Honestly_,” I muttered under my breath before straightening up, “Can you show me where it is?”

Luna took off in a run and I followed after her as we left the school building and headed towards the lake. It was fairly obvious that there was a fight going on, the huge crowd assembled around the boys was evidence of that. I watched as the prefects pushed and shoved at the crowd to get them to split up and catching sight of an opening I made it into the centre of the huddle. The two boys were glaring at each other, wands raised although neither of them were using them.

"Put. Him. Down," Potter spat, raising his wand higher as I managed to push my way to get away from the crowd – neither boy had noticed my presence yet. 

"Make me Scar head," Malfoy said twirling his own wand in his hands. 

“Stop it!” I said finally, both boys turned to look at me. Making my way between the two of them I gave them a firm look. “Put your bloody wands away – you’re not third years anymore, start acting your actual age. Malfoy you’re a prefect for Merlin’s sake, you’re supposed to be setting an example. ” The two boys kept their wands trained on one another and I tutted, “I’m already taking points away from you, do you want a detention as well?”

Finally the boys, heeding my words, tucked their wands back into their pockets. I heard the crowd let out a unanimous disappointed sigh, letting the other prefects usher them away. 

“Get on with your own lives,” I heard the Hufflepuff prefect call out. “Nothing interesting’s going to happen now.”

As the crowd began to leave I gave the boys a glare, “Don’t even think about leaving yet.” Walking over to the tree I glanced up and noticed that there was in fact a first year sitting on one of the branches – he was hardly hanging. Pulling my wand out from my pocket I levitated him out of the tree and crouched down in front of him, “Are you alright?” I kept a close eye on the two ‘arch enemies’ that were looking at each other mutinously. Once I was satisfied that the first year was fine, I faced the two of them, my hands on my hips.

"10 points from Slytherin and Gryffindor," I announced as Potter turned to leave, muttering furiously about Malfoy under his breath as he took the first year along with him. 

Malfoy kept his eye trained onto Potter’s back as he watched the boy leave. Once Potter had disappeared out of sight, Draco turned back to look at me, a grin on his face.

“A first year,” I asked in exasperation, walking towards him. “Really?”

“I had to get your attention,” He answered, wrapping an arm around my middle when I was in his reach. He tugged me towards him. “You’re always too busy. It’s either an essay or some research-”

“I was sorted into Ravenclaw for a reason.”

“Alright, I’ll give you that but when I tried to make sure that we had rounds together you didn’t let me.”

“That’s because I knew you had something other than doing rounds on your mind,” I said playing with his tie.

“And that’s a problem because?” I didn’t look up at him but I knew just from the sound of his voice that he was smirking. 

“Seriously though Draco, a first-year? Antagonising Potter is enough don’t you think.”

“It’s not as if it matters.” He persisted. “He’s just a mud-”

He stopped himself halfway as I struggled to hold back my flinch. “A mudblood,” I finished for him quietly. 

I removed his arms from around my waist, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with his arms around me. Turning away from Draco I walked away from him waiting for him to say something to stop me. He didn’t.

* * *

I completed my rounds, as usual, without incident. There was no one out after curfew or rather there was no one out after curfew that was reckless enough to get caught. Navigating my way through the corridor I knew that I was half-asleep but after having spent seven years in this very school I knew my way back to the common room with my eyes closed. The portrait, taking pity on my clearly half asleep state let me in without feeling the need to ask me a riddle.

Walking up the stairs into the girl’s dormitory I quietly pushed the door open, knowing that my roommates would be asleep. Stepping into the dorm room my eyes landed on the owl, perched outside the window. It was an owl that I had become increasingly familiar with over the last few years.

Walking to the window I opened it and let the owl in, my eyes zeroing in on the bunch of roses clutched between its talons, each one still perfectly intact. Giving the owl some treats I let it fly back to its owner and closed the window. 

I sat on my bed, the roses on the mattress beside me. Letting out a small sigh I brushed my finger across one of the petals knowing exactly who they were from. This was Draco’s way of apologising; gifts. Draco would never show me or anyone for that matter how he felt. His father had drilled into his head that emotions were a weakness and that was the principle that Draco lived his life by.

How had this all began, I wondered, knowing the real answer all along. 

It had started as I made my way back to Ravenclaw Tower after my rounds. On my way back a hand had clamped around my arm and pulled me into an abandoned classroom. I remembered struggling angrily in their grip which only made it tighten in response until I was suddenly pushed against the wall. My hand was instantly drawn to my wand as I looked up and met cold grey eyes.

_“Lift the spell,” Draco commanded as he towered over me, his voice cold._

_“What spell?” I asked, twisting slightly in his grip to see if it would budge but it kept me in place._

_“The one that you cast on me.” His hands were gripping my arms so tightly that I just knew that there would be bruises on them in the morning._

_“I didn’t cast one,” I protested, having long stopped my movements in the hopes that his grip on me would loosen. It didn’t. His eyes glared holes into mine._

_“Well, who did then?”_

_"How would I know?" I asked impatiently. With a sigh, I began to speak. "The spell would've had side effects. What were they? Maybe I can identify the spell and find a way to get rid of it and then you can let me go.”_

_"I can't get someone out of my head, he muttered clearly unhappy that he had to admit that._

_"Is this someone a girl?" He nodded. "Well it sounds like a crush," I said quietly, looking around for an escape route. I had to admit that his intimidatingly tall figure and broad shoulders blocked most of my field of view making it so that I could see very little of the classroom. Instead, he seemed to be the only thing filling my line of sight._

_He stiffened before he murmured, "I'm going to try something."_

_“Try what?” He lowered his head towards mine, his eyes full of a steely determination that I didn’t like the sight of._

_"Stop it," I said leaning my head against the wall when he continued to bring his face closer to mine until he was all I could see. "I don't care if I end up losing my badge Malfoy. I'm going to hex you to-" I was cut off as his lips slanted over mine. I froze completely, not knowing what to do._

_But apparently, all semblance of reasoning had decided to abandon me as I began to respond to him, my hands fisting his shirt slightly. He pulled back from me, his breathing heavy and my gaze fell to the floor. When he made no move I stepped to the side, now free from the cage of his arms and attempted to leave. _

_He caught my elbow easily and pulled me back round to face him, my back now to the rest of the classroom. As he walked towards me, I took steps backwards until my back hit a table and his arms came round me, caging me against the table. Slowly, as if he was trying not to frighten me, one of his hands curled its way into my hair before he lowered his head again. Rising onto my toes, I wrapped my arms around his neck._

* * *

When Draco and I first began to meet in secret I had been so worried. I was worried as to why he was always pulling me away to spend time with me, to be the boyfriend that he thought I wanted. But I was always worried about whether I was alright with being his dirty little secret that he kept from his friends. While spending time with him made me happy I couldn’t help but feel dirty when we would head off in our own separate ways afterwards, my lips swollen and my heart numb. Draco always assumed that I was fine with the way things were.

He’d always made so many assumptions. He assumed that I would always forgive him when he hurt my feelings, that a few flowers, some chocolates or even some jewellery would make me feel better. It didn’t. It made me feel cheap as if he could buy my feelings or as if I was being paid for being with him. 

He’d even gone so far as to assume that I wouldn’t feel hurt that Pansy Parkinson was calling herself his girlfriend and that I was alright with him asking her to be just that.

“You-” I let out a breath, struggling to form the words, feeling as if I had been shattered as if I meant nothing to him. “Why Draco?”

“Father wanted me to get a girlfriend.” He answered shortly as if it was a simple matter at my expectant look he added, “A _pureblood_ girlfriend.”

“Of course,” I said looking away from him, “A mudblood girl wouldn’t do for the Malfoy heir.” I pretended that I didn’t see him flinch. “The man is in Azkaban but you still allow him to run your life.”

“Come on-” He tried to take a hold of my hand but I pulled my hand away, standing up.

“I can’t do this Draco. I can’t be the dirty secret.” His hand closed around my wrist. “I honestly thought that I could but I can’t.”

“Wait”-

“No, I’m done waiting Draco,” I interrupted him. “You proved where your loyalties lied during the war! And yet nothing has changed. I’m done waiting for you to decide that you’re old enough to stop living with your father’s twisted ideals but I can’t be the girlfriend that you keep hidden. Was that what you expected? For you to be seen with Parkinson in public and to sneak away to me whenever you found a spare moment?” His silence was all the answer that I needed. “Merlin, you really did plan on doing that. Why don’t I make this easier?”

He watched me closely his eyes guarded as he began to speak, “No, wait.”

“It’s alright Draco,” I said softly, pushing his hand away from my wrist. “I’ll just make sure that you don’t need to concern yourself with this mudblood anymore.”

I walked away from him, wanting more than anything for him to call out my name, to say something, anything. I wanted him to stop me. But he didn’t.

After all, he was a Malfoy.

* * *

That was a week ago and since that day, like a true Ravenclaw I submerged myself into my studies and prefect’s duties. It had gotten to the point where I no longer minded if my essay was twice as long as it should have been or even more than that. I did anything to keep my mind off of startling grey eyes and a killer smirk. 

It didn’t surprise me that Luna was quick to figure out that something was wrong but also that I didn’t want to speak about it. It hurt too much to watch the two of them together. It hurt to watch Parkinson hang off his arm but it hurt even more because he let it happen.

But that was before the break up in the middle of the great hall which I can also assume was true Malfoy fashion. He didn’t try to keep it small, he made it public in order to draw as much attention to it as possible. Or rather, to draw my attention to it.

“I can’t do this,” Draco had snapped in the middle of breakfast, ending all of the chatter in the great hall as everyone’s eyes instantly fell on him. He increased the space between him and Parkinson, not even glancing in her direction as he announced, “We’re done.”

“But Drakey-” Parkinson attempted to plead with him.

“Shut up,” he hissed as the rest of the great hall returned to their breakfast. I remained watching him and his eyes met mine before I too looked away.

“Do you want to go?” Luna asked, noticing that I was suddenly picking at my food. 

“Are you finished?” She nodded and rose from the table, making me do the same as we made our way to potions which we shared with the Slytherins. 

However before that we head back to the common room to get my essay and as a result we were caught in the middle of the corridor.

“Look what we have here,” Parkinson snapped to Draco and his two bodyguards. She was still hanging around him even after their break up this morning and I could only assume that it was because she wanted to do anything to get back into his good books. “A loony blood traitor and a mudblood.”

Purely out of habit my eyes met Draco’s, something that we had both taken to doing when we were hiding our relationship in order to see more of each other in the day. But I was shocked by the obvious pain in his eyes, or at least the pain that was obvious to me. Only, it couldn’t be; Malfoy’s didn’t show their emotions. Releasing my eyes from his gaze I looked into Parkinson’s hateful eyes and drew myself to my full height, pleased that I was a few inches taller than her.

"I know that this'll be hard for you to grasp," I said sarcastically. "I am a muggleborn which means that somewhere along my family, there was someone of magical blood. You, however, are a pureblood. A product of varying degrees of incest. Which probably explains your nose," I said flashing her a fake smile as we walked around them. Keeping my face blank I acted as though I hadn’t seen the pride shining in his eyes. 

We were stopped quickly once again with Pansy coming around us to stand in our way.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” She demanded and before I could react she raised a hand to slap me making me flinch. A pale hand encircled her wrist before her hand could touch my face and I looked up to see a broad shouldered back standing in front of me.

"10 points from Slytherin," Draco said, standing protectively before me, his eyes glaring into Parkinson's as she struggled futilely in his grip.

"Draco, she's just a mud-"

"Enough, Parkinson," he snapped, throwing her wrist away from him as hurt gathered in her eyes at his use of her surname.

Although the other girl wasn't my favourite person, I understood why she was so hurt. It was no secret that she was infatuated with him or that they had grown up together. To him she had always been Pansy, his friend and in her eyes his future wife, something that was her guaranteed birth right. Or so she had believed. But now she was reduced to just Parkinson.

Before, I left I met his eyes and sucked in a breath when I saw that they were pleading with mine, calling out to me to stop, to just talk to him. That second, I had to make a decision. One that killed me a little inside. 

_I_ walked away from _him_.

* * *

The last hogsmeade trip of the year or rather of my entire time at the school was soon upon us. The seventh and ‘eighth’ years were all up early trying to savour this final trip. Sure we could all return to hogsmeade whenever we wanted to but it would be different because we would no longer be a student at Hogwarts. But not only that those students who were having their final hogsmeade trip were given the added bonus of being able to return to the castle two hours later than all of the other students. 

Looking around at the shops lining the streets I linked my arm through Luna’s, wondering which of them to go to first. Maybe Zonko’s or perhaps Honeydukes? Luna, sensing my indecision began leading me towards Zonko’s joke shop with the insistence that the shop was surrounded by nargles. Humouring the bubbly girl I followed after her, allowing her to pull me into the shop.

As per usual the shop was completely crowded with students, who having been influenced by the Weasley twins were stocking up in order to give poor Filch a heart attack. The crowd continued to push and shove until I was eventually split off from Luna. Letting out a sigh I tried to push through the crowd but a hand caught hold of my arm and began to pull me through the crowd easily.

“Hey,” I protested, not knowing whose hand was holding onto me. I struggled to try and pull away from them put they kept moving me out from the crowd. “Let go of me.” Only when we were safely out of Zonko’s and into the fairly empty street did the person let go of my arm and I rounded on them, faltering when I looked into Draco’s eyes. “What – did you, did you follow me into the shop?”

“Yes,” he said shortly, crossing his arms over his chest. Keeping my face completely blank I looked down at my shoes, feeling the weight of his stare on me.

“Why?” I asked letting myself look up at him.

“I needed to talk to you.”

“About?”

“There’s not much time left until we leave Hogwarts and I wanted to use this opportunity as a chance to talk to you.” His voice turned more urgent as people started to file out of the joke shop and I moved aside to let them pass. He held onto my arm to keep me close to him. “Before we leave Hogsmeade I need to know what you feel for me.”

"You already know Draco" I said pulling my arm out of his hand.

"No," he said, grabbing my waist and pulling me closer to him. "I need to know. Do you still feel the same way?" he asked, his eyes relentlessly searching mine as all chatter from the crowd around us died down. All eyes were set onto me as I stood in the 'Malfoy heir's' arms as the people, the students buzzed around us. 

"Stop alright," I struggled against his unrelenting grip. "You were the one that never expressed yourself or how he felt-" I trailed off catching sight of the intensity in his eyes.

Slowly, he lifted my chin and kissed me softly. If this was anyone else, it would've been viewed as an unnecessary public display of affection but for him it was different. He was a Malfoy. For him, this meant that he was throwing away all of his prejudices, this was him defying everything he'd been taught and everything that was expected of him. This was him expressing how he felt for a muggleborn.

I stood on my tip toes and wrapped my arms around his neck as I felt him smile.

He pulled away, resting his forehead on mine for the slightest of seconds. Without removing his forehead from mine he glanced down at his watch. “I need you to go somewhere with me.”

“Where?”

“Do you trust me?” He met my eyes, raising an eyebrow. I nodded and he stepped back, removing his forehead from mine as he held out his hand for me to take. I slipped my hand into his. “Then just follow me.”

Glancing around at the crowd surrounding us, Draco gave a small tut before pushing his way through the crowd, pulling me right behind him. He continued to walk, leading me somewhere. Draco would squeeze my hand every few minutes as if to remind himself that I was still there.

He continued to lead me through Hogsmeade only to stop in front of a building. Glancing up at the sign I furrowed my eyebrows slightly. What were we doing at The Three Broomstick? When I went to enter the building he stuck his arm out to stop me. Looking up at him I raised an eyebrow.

“Just don’t freak out,” he said as a warning before placing a hand on the small of my back to guide me into the building.

“Why?” I asked cautiously as he led me through the crowd of people, towards a table in the corner of the room. When we reached the table and I saw the other occupant I knew why he had warned me. 

Draco pulled out a chair for me and I sat down, warily eyeing the older witch across from me. She was as famous as her husband. When he sat down beside me, Draco took one of my hands beneath the table, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand to calm me.

“Mother,” he said as the older witch smiled at him and as far as I could tell, it was a genuine smile. I relaxed a little. “This is my girlfriend.”

Draco assumed so much.

Squaring my shoulders I turned to face his mother for the first time, expecting nothing less than a fire breathing dragon but was stunned when I saw the amount of warmth in her eyes as she looked between the two of us. Her eyes held no malice, no intention of harming me and the slightly doubtful part of my mind wondered whether Draco had informed her of my blood status.

But she made no mention of my blood and I saw no reason to bring it up. Conversion seemed to flow easily between the three of us until Draco’s mother asked him to go and order the drinks. Draco gave my hand a squeeze to reassure me silently that I would be fine as he rose from the table and left the two of us alone. My eyes followed him as he made his way to the bar and once he was lost to the crowd only then did I look back at the witch in front of me.

“Draco’s told me all about your relationship,” she began slowly. “He told me that there was a lot of sneaking around but that I shouldn’t let that degrade how much he feels for you. He told me that during the war you became a symbol of hope for him, something for him to fight for. That you were one of the reasons that he joined the Order.” Noticing the surprise on my face, she paused before saying, “You didn’t know?” 

I shook my head, “No.”

“And yet you’re still with him.” There was obvious approval in her voice. “I know about your blood status but I cannot hold that against you. You must understand the homes that Lucius and I were brought up in – with blood purist fanatics, it was easy to see muggleborns and half-bloods inferior. But this war was certainly an eye opener. Having pureblood does not mean you have a pure heart. “But that’s not to say that I don’t accept you. You make my son happy, you make him a better man and as his mother that is all that I can ask of you. It may seem as if my husband is a raving blood purist but above all he is a good father, he will accept you once he can see how happy you make Draco, dear. I have been around the two of you for ten minutes and yet it is so obvious to me.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I said awkwardly.

“Say that you’ll love my son enough to take away his scars.”

“I’ll try.”

“That’s all I can ask for,” she said as I turned over my shoulder to spot Draco on his way back, a tray of drinks in his hand. “And when the time arrives I shall try to be a second mother to you rather than a mother-in-law.”

I looked at her with wide eyes. It seemed that making assumptions wasn’t just something that Draco did, it must have been a Malfoy thing. 

“What’s the matter?” He asked when he sat down beside me once again and handed out the drinks, setting a butter beer down in front of me. “Why do you looked so shocked?”

Schooling my features back into a neutral expression I turned to looked at him with a smile. I shook my head slightly, “Nothing.”

“She’s fine Draco,” His mother insisted, “We were talking about my favourite muggle author and she was a bit shocked at my take on a story.”

Draco, looing between the two of us, shook his head and muttered under his breath, “Women.”

“Draco,” his mother called and he looked up at the sound of her voice. “Did you invite her round to the Manor for this summer?”

“I was going to mother,” he said with a slight wince. “But you’ve just stolen my thunder.” He turned to look at me, leaning in closer towards me and lowering his voice slightly. “So? Does it sound good? Spending part of the summer at your boyfriend’s house?”

“With said boyfriend’s mother present,” I said, immediately recognising that tone of voice. 

“A mother who won’t be present the entire time.”

“Merlin, are you always like this?”

“Only for you.” Draco glanced at his mother, only to find her distracting herself with rummaging through her bag. Seeing that she was distracted he leaned forward to claim my lips in a soft kiss. He pulled back quickly just in time for his mother to look up at the two of us.


	2. Epilogue: 8 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Father!” Draco called out, taking my hand and pulling me to stand beside him. “This is my muggleborn wife and half blood son. The Malfoy heir is a half blood.”

_8 YEARS LATER _

“Scorpius Malfoy!” I exclaimed, chasing after my son as he ran down the stairs of the Manor. He grinned mischievously, looking back at me as he ran without looking where he was going. “You’ll fall and hurt yourself!”

Except he didn’t fall and he didn’t hurt himself. 

Instead he ran straight into the open arms of his father who appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Throwing Scorpius into the air, Draco caught our giggling son in his arms. Both father and son looked back at me, smiling widely. I felt my breath catch as it did every time I saw my boys smile so freely; they seemed so happy.

I made my way to the bottom of the stairs and approached them. Draco shifted to hold Scorpius in one arm and held my hand with the free one. He leaned down to press a kiss to my lips, ignoring the disgusted sounds coming from our son. Hiding the smile on my face I looked at them.

“Draco, I need to talk to you.”

“Uh-oh,” he said, looking at Scorpius. “That sounds like Daddy’s in trouble.”

Scorpius nodded sagely and ran off once again when he’d been set down. Once our son had disappeared from our line of sight, Draco looked back at me with a grin.

“Yes, my dear wife?”

“I found the broom,” I said accusingly, crossing my arms.

“It’s a tradition to give a Malfoy a broom for their fourth birthday.” He tried to convince me. “It’s the best model and I always want to give my son the best.”

“That’s not why I’m annoyed Draco.” I lowered my voice and looked up at Draco. “I brought him a broom as well, the same one.”

He grinned at me, “Well then we’ll have to return one of them.” Glancing around the hallway Draco stepped closer to me. “Now seeing as we’re alone for once, why –” 

Draco cut himself off when he heard the other male voice in the Manor. He stiffened at the sound and looked in the direction that the voice had come from.

“Draco –”

“Which way did Scorpius go?” He asked, urgently. 

“Draco, you can’t –”

“I don’t want my son around him.” His voice was firm.

He didn’t need to specify who he was referring to. Last night Lucius Malfoy had returned to the Manor after his stint at Azkaban. Draco had taken Scorpius and I out for the day, clearly to avoid his father. We had returned home in the middle of the night, Scorpius asleep in his father’s arms. That night Draco had been adamant on Scorpius sleeping in our bed, he’d said that he wanted to keep the two of us close.

“He’s his grandfather Draco,” I said gently, putting a hand on his arm.

Draco said nothing. Instead he held the hand on his arm and pulled me in the direction that Scorpius had run off into. Entering the main sitting room, Draco scanned the room to find his parents talking quietly with Scorpius sat on his grandmother’s lap. Marching into the room Draco snatched Scorpius into his arms and turned to leave. I stood in his way.

He’d come such a long way and I would hate for him to throw away the chance of getting the family he’d always wanted.

“Draco,” I pleaded quietly, looking up at my husband.

He met my eyes, showing the fear I knew he was feeling but wasn’t showing. He didn’t want to give his father the opportunity to disown his grandson. When he spoke his voice was quiet, “Please –”

“Draco.” Narcissa called, rising to her feet. Draco turned back to face his mother, carefully avoiding looking at his father. Lucius was watching his son, his expression unidentifiable. 

“Mother.”

“You haven’t greeted your father yet.”

Draco looked at his mother, handing Scorpius to me. He stepped in front of me, shielding Scorpius and me from his father’s eyes.

“Father.”

“Draco.”

Narcissa looked helplessly between them. Scorpius poked my cheek and I looked at my son, smiling to ease the tension.

“Who’s that man?” He asked curiously, gesturing to his grandfather. 

“That’s your grandfather, sweetheart.” I placed a reassuring hand on Draco’s back to calm him. “Your dad’s father.”

“Father!” Draco called out, taking my hand and pulling me to stand beside him. “This is my _muggleborn_ wife and _half blood_ son. The Malfoy heir is a half blood.”

“Draco,” I chastised as Scorpius wriggled out of my hold. “Stop it.”

Scorpius walked cautiously towards his grandfather. Looking up at him, he tugged on his robe. Lucius looked down at his grandson.

“I’m Scorpius,” our son said, extending his hand towards his grandfather. Lucius leaned down to take the extended hand. “Scorpius Lucius Malfoy.”

Lucius’ eyes flickered towards his son. “You named him after me?”

“I didn’t,” Draco tightened his hold on my hand. “My wife did.”

Lucius met my eyes for the first time. “It’s a tradition within the Malfoy family to give a grandson his grandfather’s name as a middle name,” I said as explanation, not quite looking at him.

Narcissa approached her husband and grandson, easing the conversation between the two of them. Draco stood on the outside, watching them from afar. He wasn’t willing to forgive his father yet.

“Draco,” I said quietly, making him turn to look at me. “Your father might not have changed completely but Scorpius might help him change.”

“You don’t know that,” he insisted, “I can’t let him poison Scorpius.”

“Please.” I took his hands in mine. “I don’t want our children growing up without knowing your father Draco. Scorpius wasn’t able to know his grandfather because he wasn’t around and –”

“Children.” He cut me off.

“What?” 

“You said children.” He said with wide eyes. I avoided his eyes. 

“I was going to tell you later.” 

Draco pressed a hand to my abdomen. “Children,” he repeated quietly.

“Children.” I looked up at him. “So please Draco, let’s fix our family.”


End file.
